Hadwen Arboretum – An Earth Day Treat

by jameshuntphotography on April 17, 2011

Earth Day is this coming week, April 22 to be more specific. The theme for this year’s Earth day is “A Billion Acts of Green.” The idea, often mentioned, is to help out the planet by doing something positive that’s more or less right in front of your nose. I’m very happy then to celebrate the work of a group of students from Clark University as well as volunteers from Wachusett Greenways who spent some serious time recently at one of my favorite spots, Hadwen Arboretum. I was thrilled that the group, led by Elizabeth Redlich from Clark was interested in trying to enhance the Arboretum as part of the University’s Sustainability Initiative. The weather’s been lousy since then, but we finally had a chance to go back and see the results of their efforts. They basically cleaned the place up and laid out long forgotten trails, making a visit there much more user friendly.

The blue dots are the trail markers. If you click on the image of the wonderful old Beach tree below to enlarge and look carefully, you’ll get a sense of the human/tree interaction that has been going on here for so many years.

With a good deal of the trails cleared and now passable, the trees themselves begin to reassert themselves, as was originally intended by Mr. Hadwen.

If you only view the state of environmental awareness from the perspective of politics, you’re probably a bit discouraged at this point. Too many Representatives and Senators, including one of our own, seem to be unable to come to grips with our situation and with the opportunities before us to embrace a different way of living which will also by the way improve our economic position. But we are not powerless in the face of all this. The idea of A Billion Acts of Green, at least to me, is that we must do what we can to move the planet forward, even if it’s one stick at a time. So in that spirit, thanks to Clark and the Wachusett Greenways on behalf of Mr. Hadwen, and the Hadwen Arboretum Neighborhood.

Once that place starts blossoming this spring, any day now, it will be worth a visit. Happy Earth Day!

Welcome to the environmental photography and sustainability blog of James M. Hunt. Chris, my wife, and I care deeply about our natural environment and in particular those places, beings and phenomena that may not get the attention that they deserve, in spite of their importance. Since the places we tend to frequent may receive a bit less attention, we're often engaged in a process of discovery ourselves. We'll let you know here something of what we learn along the way. Thanks for taking the time to join us.

All images on this site are copyright (c) James M. Hunt, 2010 through 2018 all rights are reserved. No use of any image posted here without written consent.
________________________

FINE ART PRINTING OF WESTBOROUGH
James is also the proprietor of Fine Art Printing of Westborough, a printing, scanning, and photo restoration business operating in Westborough, Massachusetts. You can see the link below. Inquiries are welcomed!